He’d told her it was witchling magic, that the stone kept it contained so that it couldn’t hurt her, but Lady Mossi had never believed him. So she slipped on the silk glove she kept for this purpose, then picked up the stone. A shiver ratcheted through her limbs as she clutched it—the stone was frigid, and she could feel the foul magic within grasping for her life force, eager to suck every bit of warmth and light out of her.
“General Slaugh,” Lady Mossi said to the mirror in front of her. “I need to speak to you.”
One moment passed, then two, then three. She was nearly ready to throw the stone back in the box when the surface of the mirror clouded over. A shadow swirled within the silver depths, before coalescing into the tall, disfigured form she knew so well.
“Auntie,” Slaugh said in his rough voice. It always made her think of stones scraping against each other, forever trying to create a spark that refused to catch. Lady Mossi remembered when that voice used to be deep and smooth, before dragon fire had torched his throat. His wavy red hair flopped over to cover the burned side of his scalp, and he wore a loose tunic and leggings with the collar open and the sleeves rolled up, exposing the distorted skin on his chest and arms. Lady Mossi blinked, unused to seeing him dressed so informally—he must be in his private chambers, getting ready for bed.
But then again, she rarely ever saw her nephew outside of official business. Not since he’d become General Aolis—nowKing Aolis—‘s right hand, wielder of all of Ediria’s military might.
“Nephew,” Lady Mossi returned, hiding her thoughts behind a practiced smile. “I heard you were recently in Domhain, recruiting more of my people to be slaughtered, and yet you didn’t come to say hello.”
Slaugh snorted. “I’ve been busy, and I wasn’t anywhere near Talamh, in any case.” He ran a hand through his hair, exposing some of the warped skin of his scalp. “Besides, as much as I’d like to see you, I’ve had more important business to take care of.”
Lady Mossi arched a brow. “This business wouldn’t have anything to do with a blue-haired female with fire magic, would it?”
Slaugh immediately jumped to his feet, bracing his hands on whatever surface his mirror was sitting on. “What do you know about her?” he demanded, eagerness transforming his face. “Do you have her?”
“First, you need to answer me this.” Lady Mossi held up a hand, staving off his questions. “Is it true that you have Gelsyne?”
Slaugh sighed. “Yes. She used her magic to get the girl away from me, so I took her instead. She’s languishing in our dungeons right now, and King Aolis is having her interrogated. From what we’ve managed to get so far, she’s been raising Adara in that village since she was a baby, and she used a primal stone to keep her powers hidden. But we know nothing beyond that, not even who the father was.”
“Yes, I figured out that much as well,” Lady Mossi said. She buried her hands in her skirts so that Slaugh couldn’t see they’d clenched into fists. “I suppose it doesn’t matter to you that Gelsyne is your cousin, does it?”
Slaugh’s expression hardened. “She’s a traitor,” he said in a voice like granite. “And besides, my loyalty to the king supersedes my ties to House Ithir. You know that.”
Something in Lady Mossi’s chest twisted in response to the ugly truth of his words. “I know it better than anyone else,” she countered.
“Is there a reason you’ve summoned me?” Slaugh asked, lips thinning. “That stone I gave you was for emergency use only.”
“Yes.” Lady Mossi sat up a little straighter, lifting her chin. “I’m prepared to make a trade. The girl for Gelsyne…and Avani.”
“Avani?” Slaugh raised an incredulous brow. “The king will never agree to give her back to you. You know the rules—one hostage for each realm in the kingdom.”
“I do know the rules.” Lady Mossi’s lip curled involuntarily at the reminder of both Aolis’s strength and weakness. Strength, that he was able to intimidate each of the house leaders by forcing them to hand over a loved one, and weakness, because a true ruler would never need to resort to such tactics. “But I have a feeling that Aolis will pay any price for Adara, and this is mine. My granddaughters for Adara, and you must bring them here. I won’t allow you to take Adara in good faith.”
“Careful, Lady Mossi,” Slaugh warned. “The king may not take kindly to such harsh demands.”
Lady Mossi’s fingers twitched in her skirts, her jaw clenching with fury. “Aolis may be king,” she said in a low voice, “but it isIwho controls the food supply for most of the kingdom. If he wishes to take offense to my terms, he does so at the rest of Ediria’s peril.”
A tense silence filled the air, and Slaugh pressed his lips together as he considered her words. “It will take me a few days,” he said after a long moment. “Make sure that Adara remains in your care in the meantime. If she escapes before I arrive, there will be dire consequences for you.”
He disappeared before Lady Mossi could express her outrage at being threatened by her own kin. She dropped the stone back into the box, then ripped the glove off and tossed it into the fireplace. But even as she watched the scrap of fabric burn, even as the shiver of revulsion crawled through her, she felt a blossom of hope unfurl in her chest.
Soon, Lady Mossi would get my granddaughters back. And once she had them, no one, not even Aolis, would be able to stop her from taking what was hers.
15
Einar
“Idon’t like this.”
Adara rolled her eyes at me. “You’ve been saying that ever since we arrived,” she said, twirling a loop of fire around her fingers. We were sitting cross-legged out on the balcony of Adara’s bedroom, all furniture and flammables removed from the area so she could practice her fire magic without risking a conflagration.
“And it’s no less true than it was yesterday.” I twirled my own loop of fire, then snagged it around both of my forefingers and gently tugged. The string of flame grew longer, expanding until it was long enough to loop over my head like a necklace. “We’ve been cooped up in this castle for three days now, watched like hawks by the guards every time we leave our rooms, and Lady Mossi hasn’t reported back on any progress finding your mother.”
Adara sighed. “These things take time,” she said, trying to copy my move. She tugged on the loop of fire she’d created, trying to lengthen the flame, but instead it grew wider, sprouting extra tendrils and twisting up her wrists. “And of course Lady Mossi isn’t just going to let us come and go from the castle. Not when I’m being hunted.”
The flames began to dance up her left arm, and this time it wasmyturn to roll my eyes. “You’re not concentrating enough,” I chastised, grabbing her arm to intercept the flames before they could climb too high. An electric sizzle jolted up my hand at the contact, but I did my best to ignore it as I coaxed the flames from Adara’s body. Dutifully, they collected themselves into my hand, and I abruptly closed my palm, snuffing them out.
